July 10, 2016

Well this morning I want to continue our sermon really in a way it's a series that would be tied together for a few Sundays based on Colossians chapter 3 and we talked about Colossians 3:1 and that's kind of where we're camping out at the beginning of that chapter the last week we did this and I'd like for us to do this again as kind of review of what we talked about. We practiced what is traditionally and heister responsive reading. So the leader says Christ is risen and the congregation says Christ is risen indeed. So you're ready Christ is risen, excellent job in and we shouldn't just Reserve that for Easter to celebrate and remind ourselves of the resurrection and that's what we talked about last week. We looked at Colossians 3:1 Paul says, so if you have been raised with Christ seek, the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, and we talked about raised last week that Christ Resurrection. The display of God's victory over sin and death and hours to our victory over sin and death for we are in Christ. That's fundamental to the Christian faith. But I think it's important to remind ourselves of that fundamental truth. Paul talks about this and 1st Corinthians 15 that he doesn't completely understand it, but they'll be that day in a twinkling of an eye that we will be changed or resurrected from the grave itself and be with Christ and this is because of the Gospel itself that Jesus came and talked and preached and healed and lived and then was crucified and then his faith his teaching his preaching was all validated. The resurrection was God's yes to the gospel itself to the life and teaching of Jesus when Jesus was resurrected that was this Grand Divine. Yes to everything he said and hot and so his resurrection the reality of his resurrection extends to us because we are in We place our faith. We're placing our faith in Christ in his life and teachings and death and in his resurrection and scripture says that his resurrection becomes our Resurrection. Paul says the glaciers to let us know longer. I that lives speaking about himself Paul says, but it's Christ who lives in me until Jesus righteousness is attributed to us and his power the same power that raised him from the dead is placed inside of you and I So that one day when we Face the grave if we placed our faith in Christ, the grave will not be able to hold us. Like Christ, we will resurrect to eternal life. Sometimes I think we just need to be reminded of the magnitude of the promise of the Gospel that not even death itself can hold us down. If we are in Christ Jesus if we placed our faith in him then we attributed to us is his righteousness and his power his victory over death and his victory over sin is given and granted to us. That's why Paul says in Romans 8, we read this last week that nothing can separate us from the love of God given to us revealed to us in Christ. Jesus. Nothing above the heavens. Nothing below. Nothing that exists. He says nothing that may come to exist in the future. Nothing absolutely. Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus because the two things that could have stood in our way sin and death have been defeated impulses. Where is your sting now? Where is your Victory now? You have been to Because of Christ Jesus so inclined since 1 when he says you've been raised that's huge. That's why it merited a whole sermon last week in and of itself and I want to continue to look at that same passage. He says so if you have been raised with Christ this morning, I want to focus on that word with now next Sunday Caleb is going to preach and he's going to focus on the word seated and unpack what that means because I get a chance this week. Maggie's going with me. It's going to be a fun opportunity. We're going to the North American Christian convention, which is the restoration church has National annual convention and so will be there all week here in Preachers and teachers getting fed getting encouraged times are challenging for churches today. And so I'm anxious to be with other leaders and hear from teachers and be built up and encourage myself. And I decided that Maggie is going to come with me. Bob golf is one of the many probably two dozen excellent speakers. He's he's speaking. He wrote a book called love does and Maggie has red. Book about a dozen times. So she's coming with me. She's excited to hear him preach and we'll get to have lunch with him. They'll be a few hundred other people in the room, but we get to have lunch with him that week so it'll be it'll be a fun thing. So Caleb will be reaching for me next Sunday focusing on what it means when Paul says Christ is seated at the right hand of God. But this morning when I want to do is continue looking at the fact that so you have been raised with Christ. There's power in every word of this verse and every phrase just as raised deserved its own attention for a while. I want to focus on what it means that were raised with Christ. Think about within the Bible think about the power of that word in that phrase in Genesis 1 God was with Adam and Eve he would walk with them in the garden in the cool of the evening were told that's that's the whole power of creation that God created humanity and that he created them for the purpose of fellowship or relationship until he would come down in the garden in the cool of the evening and have this fellowship with Adam and Eve. That's the most amazing thing in my opinion and all of those chapters swing it up. We get obsessed with dates and time and chronology about Genesis 1 2 3. Look God could have created a world that was millions of years in age and 1 second. Right? He can do things that don't fit our categories of thinking we get our charts and graphs out sometime. We do it at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis. We do it at the end of the Bible in Revelation on in time. We get everything out with it with this is how it should be I think sometimes God's up there. Just Nick Curry don't you know that? You know time is it is it relevant to me? I'm outside of time. Like I could have taken the stuff. That was me and of years old laying around and then created together we get upset with a scientist as this is older than I think it should be the focus on the Miracle of Genesis 1 2 3 is that God created Humanity. Heart of the universe is this intelligent all-powerful and all-loving being that he said, you know what it's too good the fellowship we have between Father Son and Holy Spirit. It's too good to keep to ourselves in the circle. Plus. I had a couple of chairs to Let's create beings in our image male and female and then let's have fellowship with them. That's the amazing thing of that passage scratch your head and say this is amazing that God was with us with men and women with humans that he stepped down in the garden and fellowship with us. He is the author Creator maker of life and he steps down so graciously to be with us and that's just that's the power that comes on someone's life when he tells Abraham look look, I'm anxious and worried. I'm over around. Don't worry. I will be with you that's God's promises power when people are overwhelmed when they're anxious. He tells them I will be with you Moses again. I don't know if I can do this. I will be with Deborah in the Book of Judges when she Rises up as a prophet and leads God's people it's because God is with her Samuel as the prophet who challenges and and preachers in and becomes the price for the people God is with him were told and scripture and David a man after God's Own Heart because God was with David and every Prophet all through the old day rise up. They perform Miracles. They challenge the people confront the people they preach the word of God because why because they're special they're unique because somehow they rolled up their sleeves and said, I'm going to find a way to be an amazing man or woman of God know because God was with them that was the power of their benefits cut their own character not their Heritage not their upbringing not their work ethic all those things may Go to the end of them in and of themselves, but they are not the key. The key throughout scripture is that God was with them and then all of scripture climax is the Old Testament in a Manuel, right? And what does that mean? God With Us? What was once limited to those prophets who got that special tap on the shoulder by God's presence now through Jesus Christ. God is with us. Offering Goodwill toward every person any and all who call upon the name of the Lord can be like Adam and Eve in that Garden in Genesis. They can return to this fellowship with God and be in relationship with him. It's a vital word until pauses and cautious since you've been raised with Christ raised with Christ. Christ is in US Christ with us. What pause talking about what all the scripture alludes to that is the hope the power of the assistance brought by the resurrection as we place our faith in Christ. Now think about it. We all long to know how we can walk more Faithfully with God how we can enjoy his presence more fully. I heard one author say that that one year after years and years and years has his lawn mower that was a plain old fashioned lawn mower broke down and he was glad because it was a pain to use he went out and bought a brand new nice shiny powerful motor lawn mower that have the little handle you pull that propels for you and he said after years and years of dragging this other one around his yard when he got that knew what he just said, he could just mow and just keep going like that. He said was wonderful mode the rest of the season that year and then the next year. He got it out start mowing again and it was different. He couldn't figure it out. I said this thing feels heavier and he would push and push and push and he said, I halfway through the yard. He was soaking wet with sweat. I thought what is going on and guess what? He realized. He had forgot to be doing he was not pulling the lever on that self-propelled mower. He was push this heavier Mower and its motor along with it. He said glory be glory be there is the assistants. I need to know the author likened it to the fact that sometimes we walk with God in such a way that we're trying to do everything ourselves. And we don't connect with him in such a way that we get the power or the assistance that we need. It's not that when you follow Christ that you have no burdens or no struggles or there's no effort on your own but it is that when you understand the gospel and you follow him you place your faith in him then so much of that burden is lifted and you get this assist that helps you pray you get this a cyst that helps you understand scripture you get this a cyst that help you be more patient than your own character would normally allow you get this presence of God in your life that changes your heart and your mind and your will and your thinking The key is that Paul says this in Colossians 1:27 the hope the very key is what we've been talking about Christ in us or Christ with us. That's the hope. I think the way we let off the lever and and lose God's assistance is when we focus on our faithfulness. You know, that's what has what I've got, you know to be a good Christian. It's all about me doing what it takes. I got to make sure I'm faithful until we get whatever rules we have in her mind whether that means going to church a certain number time to dress in a certain way and we just kind of put the it's our it becomes our project. Doesn't it? Bratayley becomes our thing. I'm figuring out how to do it, you know and it's only when a crisis comes and we say there's no way I can do this. That stubbly were on Ernie's calling out to God, please help me. There's no way I can get through this. And we miss all that opportunity leading up to that crisis to have God's help to have his presence Christianity is not a religion of do that's what the other religions are there all about. These are the things you must do in order to please this God. Who is please run. Please review based on your behavior. Christianity is about what God has done through Christ on the cross.

That's what it's about. And so we place our faith in the completed work of Christ in what has been done and we place our faith in Christ that changes everything else is this is the very hope of the world Colossians 1:27 in the NIV says to them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the Glorious Riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you the hope of glory if there's any hope for God's presence for his glory for his goodness to be revealed in this world. Paul says, this is the hope it is Christ in you I like the way the message words this translation it explains a little better. I think he says what God wanted everyone not just used to know this rich and Gloria Secret inside and out regardless of their background regardless of their religious standing the mystery in a nutshell is Justice Christ is in you. So therefore you can look forward to sharing and God's glory. It's that simple This is the substance of our message. So Paul says since you have been raised with Christ. If we placed our faith in him in his work in his teaching. Then his defeat of sin and Death Becomes our defeat of sent and that his victory becomes our victory. And he is with us that Fellowship is restored again, sometimes we kind of we kind of step on the flow of that Fellowship because we think differently instead of placing our faith in Christ. As I said a moment ago. We try to somehow do it on her own Merit our own standing with God somehow if I just behave well enough if I'm just a good enough person if I can just bite my tongue often enough if I can just be this one of Lord then then then Then we'll have Fellowship. Holla back to relevant no matter how wonderful you could do. It is the work of Christ on the cross that restores our fellowship with God our task is the place our faith not in our self but in Christ. That's our challenge not to figure out how to save ourselves, but to have the humility to realize that we need to be saved and God has provided. And so we come to him not with some sort of bargain that we've worked up in our mind. We come to him with humility and we place our faith in him. We trust him. I think about this. I know this is in some ways fundamental but I don't know about you and it's easy for me to kind of drift away from even the fundamentals and and suddenly be trying to earn my own way to heaven suddenly be all about religion and all about what I need to do and I. You know just constantly put that I ought to do this. I don't do that. Why don't you that you should feel bad about that and you know what you want to do and that just becomes my dialogue and it's really God gets left out of my walk with him. Can you imagine that I just had this whole dialogue where I'm trying to be that image of whatever I think a good Christian should be but it's almost like I've forgotten to invite God into that conversation that I'm just saying I need to do this and I should do that, you know as one nun said to one of my favorite Catholic writers, you've got to stop shooting all over yourself because we slip into that mindset where that becomes our religion this sense of art instead of placing our faith outside of our self placing our faith in Jesus Christ. So we place our faith in him. I'll share this post before but it's when I go back to again and again, I want to share it again. It is not faith in our own ability to have faith. That is the key. The substance of faith is never what matters it is the object of Faith how much we have isn't the issue. It's the one in whom we trust you see the logic of that statement. It's not a matter of saying do I have as much faith is Vijay has you don't hurt BJ give his testimony. I was very impressed. I think I don't have that kind of faith. And so BJ must be closer to God more right with God more save more salvation and his cup and I have in my I've got to figure out how to muster up some more faith. I gotta have a certain amount of Faith. Jesus says what the amount of faith that Jesus says you got to have a mustard seed. Now, why would you say that but just messes with everything look Jesus, we like to measure things. We like to say this guy has this much Faith therefore he gets this many rewards and this person has left left face till they get less and this person has a great big. So they're at a higher standing and Jesus just throws that chart completely out and says just a mustard seed will do just a mustard see the tiniest thing that he could place that's because it's not about the amount of Faith or our faith in our own ability to say, I'm a good Christian. I'm doing the right thing. It's about the object of our faith and our faith when it's not in ourselves when we place our faith in Jesus Christ and hallelujah, we're saved. Not even death can see but that's because we're with him. When death comes knocking Jesus stands up and says he's with me and that shakes in his boots. Because Christ has already gone there and come out of the Grave Victorious. I don't know about you, but I love the idea of being with Jesus, don't you? When guilt or accusation comes my way and that's what his send his got him to her thoughts. He's got anger in his heart. He's got his got bitterness toward others and a lot of that's true.

Now he's put breaching rod and gone to Madeline true of everybody in the room. Not just me.

And Jesus says I know I know. I know. He's confessed it to me. I'm single. And it contains shame and guilt it in skirt that reality.

And then he says and I paid that price.

I took the punishment that was due him on me. It's been paid for paid in full on the cross Christ said it is finished and we keep digging it back up again and again and again and Jesus said it is finished. And so the challenge is the Simplicity of saying place your faith in Christ. Place your faith in Christ has Christ ever been defeated by anything. No, nothing not even the grave itself. It's Christ stained with sin and unrighteousness know he's the pure and spotless lamb. It is Christ absence of fellowship with the father know he says that his right hand. place your faith in Christ trust him. And realize that your walk with God you're standing with God your Journeys in a faith relationship is based on Christ. You're with him. I'm with him. I'm with him make that your prayer every day celebrate that every day. Sometimes we slip into forgetting that basic truth. You see how we do that how we try to be the kind of people God wants us to be we going to be good Christians instead of saying I'm placing my faith in Jesus Christ and his work. Melt their implications that if I place my faith in Jesus, it means I believe in him right? Nothing some poor magical formula. I believe in him. Now. God owes me, you know three wishes something silly like that. It means what we would think of when we say you believe in somebody if I believe in Ben and I believe it I'm not blaming then I trust him and then says here's what I'm going to do. You worried about coming economic issues I've discovered. This is the path to place your resources and it will bear fruit if I believe in Ben, what will I do with my resources? I'll do what he tells me to do. I'll follow his example if I believe in Ben and and I'm struggling in my marriage and Vince's Robbie look. Here's a great way to have a marriage. That's good. Good. Good good. It tells me that if I believe in Ben, what am I going to do?

I'm going to take his advice. I'm going to do what he says. So when we place our faith in Christ, when we believe in Christ, then we Look to Him to guide Our Lives. What would Jesus tell me to do about prayer? What would Jesus tell me to do about my unbelieving neighbor? What would Jesus tell me to do about gossip? What would Jesus tell me to do about Sin and struggle and we go to him not to something we go to him because he's already revealed himself as our Lord and savior. And so we go to him with gratitude and humility and say, how do I place my faith more and more and you each and every day? We place our faith in Christ who was raised and we have been past tense. Paul says here in Colossians. We have been raised with him. He is with us and we are with m. Emmanuel God With Us

I think I don't know about you, but I'll admit we struggle I struggle with that. Very true that fundamental truth. Like I said, it's good to remind yourself of the Easter Sunday that he has risen. He is risen indeed. We serve a risen savior. And it's also good for us to remind yourself of this fundamental truth. God is with us. How many times and I do this all the time and I may even do it before the service is over today. So cut me some slack and I'll get you some slack. How often do you hear Christians pray and they asked God to be with them? How often do we do that? Dear Lord, if you'll just be with us today, you'll just be with me and if you'll just be with this group is going on a trip if you'll just be with I do it we all do it, but it's something we need to get out of our vocabulary and instead by faith celebrate and affirm. The reality that God is with us. He's not waiting for us to say the right prayer with the right level of earnestness with the right tone in her voice. Then he's going to show up. He is with us. If you have called Upon Jesus Christ to be your lord and savior God is with you. His spirit is with you. His presence is with you. He wants to be more and more present in your life to lead and direct he wants you to turn to him for Direction. That's the reality the challenge for us is to make that our Focus The place our faith in the reality that Christ has been raised and we have been raised with him. Therefore we are with him and he is with us to place our faith in that truth.

Too often. I don't know why. I don't know if it's busyness.

Orbitz just at that I carve a right so deeply into my own routine that somehow doesn't even tip my hat to God. I don't know about you. Can you go through days and weeks without really fully celebrating that reality that God is with you. Define yourself and sets and Lord. Please be with me today. I've got a big big job meeting and it I could lose my job until just be with me today. We we we we think of it as an ebb and flow thing instead of realizing it is a consistent and constant reality that God is with us. our ever-present companion beside us day in and day out when we watch TV for hours and don't give him a thought. He's right there with us when we yell at the person who cuts us off in traffic things that we wouldn't want anyone to hear us. Yell. He just right there with us, but life seems to be going smooth and we think we don't need anyone. He's right there with us and when life gets us like a ton of bricks and knocks us off our feet he is right there with us. The challenges for you and I to open our eyes to tune ourselves toward that reality that God is always with us Thatcher that your homework this week. If last week that the challenge was too kind of recant that little Christ is risen. He is risen indeed in your heart and in your mind this week. Will you say to yourself every chance you get every time it comes to your mind God is with me. Play that right now you ready? God is with me. Let's do it. Again. You're ready. God is with me one more time. God is with me. Will you say that to yourself this week every night as you go to bed every morning as you wake up. Will you remind yourself of that truth? I want us to do something a little unique here before we finish this time together. I want us to spend some time in prayer. Because God is with us.

He's been here all morning. He was here all week is some of you probably watched the news and just felt your heart sink over what happened in our nation this week. Is with you when you get a phone call from a friend or family and you get news you did not want to get and is with you when you're just having a great day because you found ice cream that you didn't know was in the freezer. No one's home. And you just think I'm going to finish this puppy off. No one will ever know. He's with you then to he's with us. I want us to spend some time in prayer. both for ourselves as a congregation for those who have illness or birds in their lives and that we would be a congregation that that's a light to our community. And then I want us to pray for those who've been victims this past week. With all the things that we've watched on the news and I want us to pray for those in Authority Who police officers and others who who have full plates to try to manage the crisis of this week. And I want us to pray for those who perpetrate those crimes those whose hearts are so tangled up in an evil in and untruth that that they go down that path. I want us to be very still and quiet because I've got four people who go to just pray from their Pew word of prayer for us in it and these areas Jean Welsh are you in here? He's right in the back. He's going to start us out and pray for this church body. And then after Gene says amen Kelly's going to pray a prayer for us. We'll all stay seated but you guys can stand and help project The Voice Kelly is going to pray for those who burn victims this past week. And then David Sanford is going to pray for those in authority and our nation and then Gary's going to pray for those who perpetrated by Gary Blake some of these atrocities a man that prayer time is over then I'll lead us in a kind of close out our sermon and we'll have time to continue praying as individuals within for one another but just in Stillness and quietness, let's bow our heads and go before the Lord and let others kind of word. What's on our hearts to The God Who is with us right now?

Oh mighty God. We just continue Lord. We pray or for those that are lost in the darkness. Now those more than we know Lord are not living according to thinking and planning according to you. Will you have to poke it into our nothing is impossible you could speak into the hearts of those Lord.

Why does it have no respect for others and father would change their lives that we would see your glory Lord up out of the darkness. We pray father God what what what it took for Paul on the road to Damascus. May they run into you may they have an encounter. Change the Lord your will would be known in this place. Is it happen people who could Proclaim also?

for the darkness

Darkness

hey, man. All this week is as we go forward. And strive to remember again again that God is with us. I challenge us to think about knowing about the worship team to come forward. I challenge us to think about the prayers. We just prayed and the struggle our nation is going through scripture says to overcome evil with good. I was just sure that scripture said overcome evil with political arguments. I was sure that's what it said. I don't know about you. But but like a lot of folks things like this happen and before you know, it like the media and politicians and all of us among them. You're taking sides or making points you're arguing about how this should be different or that should be different scripture doesn't say that the hope of this world is a political body does it? And I don't care which political party you belong to scripture does not say place your hope in the government place your hope and politicians. If you just get the right politician if you just get the right policies, everything will be fine. Scripture says that the hope of this world is Christ in you and I that's the hope and scripture says when evil makes itself so visible as it has as of late to overcome evil with good Now that's a challenge because what I want to do, I want to argue people about why things happen and why they don't and what's the right way to view something. What's the wrong way to view some butts and what they should think and what they should believe. Can you imagine that so hard to imagine me being much when arguing Latigo strap me right now for lunch if I families here, they'd say Amen. But scripture says instead that we take the hope is that Christ is in you and I and that we take his presence with us and then we overcome evil with good and that presence of God With Us. Is that good that we strive to overcome evil with and so I say to myself again again and God is with me and if I get in a conversation with somebody this week, and I'm tempted to argue with him about politics or religion or Theology and I say to myself wait a minute. It's right here with me. Jesus is right here with me. What does he want me to say that person? Does he want me to spend 45 minutes arguing with him about politics in North America?

RC want me to make sure that they know that he loves them. He's the only hope they have he's the only hope I have he's the only hope for our nation. He's the only hope for our world. Play this is practical stuff as we take the scriptures and say we're commended to remember that God is with us if we take that to her heart, it will shape the way we live our week. The way we talk with others may be what if think about it if Jesus right there with you maybe what you'll do that you don't do is say to somebody that you're talkin to. Hey, could we pray? But I bet that don't happen too often of it and heated conversations. Maybe maybe it should maybe that maybe we should be Christ in the world. Maybe we should be the ones who sang. You know, what let's let's ask the heavenly father. He's good. He's good and wise and cares for us. Let's pray about this right now. How many times could you pray with somebody this coming week? Maybe it's just that your own kitchen table. Maybe that's why they are you what's going on? And you'd be the one that says let's pray about that or maybe it'll be at McDonald's in line while people are waiting for their orders. Maybe I'll pray with the gala cross the counter. Is that more important than your pride or your ego? What people think maybe it'll be in a section of town that people would say, you know where I saw Gary Blake.

And the person I saw him with I don't know. I need to make sure Kim knows what's going on. But our Salvation isn't based on our reputation. It is based on doing the things that other Christian site one. That's the way a good Christian should behave it's based on the work of Christ so we can risk we can risk and here I'm going to preach on the sermon but we can risk not responding to a statement that we think is idiotic. Can I relate to that somebody says something and you did every part of you wants to say okay. Here's the five reasons. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard concerning. We can risk letting go of that we can risk not having to win an argument. We can risk being misunderstood because of the person we're hanging out with her the side of town that were on we can risk all of that because God is with us and our Salvation is secure in the work of Christ so we can go forth and strive to overcome evil with good we can risk turning other cheek and have that person sake wonderful and slap us twice as hard. We can risk it. Because we are faith is in Christ. The church is going to have to start risking. App to start trusting more and more to be a witness in this world. And we may be the victims in the future. We will never be ultimate victims. Paul says we can be knocked down but not knocked out. We will never be on nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ, Jesus and Christ in US is the hope of the world. So take that risk this week weather be at your kitchen table or at your workplace or in public to strive to overcome evil with good and keep reminding yourself at every moment. God is with me. God is with me and we're going to sing Our Song of imitation and during the song if you have a decision on your heart or need I'll be upfront W Folks up front and in the back for prayer during that song. You can come to me or any of those folks for decisions are prayer. And when that song ends that The Middle come forward for communion this morning, please stand